Wonders of Creation
I was pushing a hand-truck laden with three boxes of books along 6th Street. As I came to the corner and stopped to wait for the light I was overcome with a sense of appreciation and wonder. I could feel the magnificence of creation and I was grateful that I got to be a part of it for a brief moment in eternity. It was a very gentle feeling. The streets around me were still dirty and worn, but for a moment all their pain slipped away. The experience was, as the saying goes, apropos of nothing. It just happened.
In fact, something like this happened to me once before. I was nineteen or twenty at the time and I was climbing the steps coming out of the subway. It was memorable, but I lacked then the vocabulary to describe it to myself.
It is not the same as “being happy.” Happiness in others can, sometimes, be insufferable. Happiness is about the self. This feeling is about what is not the self except in the sense that the self exists within creation. Without the self, who (other than the Creator) would acknowledge and appreciate creation.
And then the feeling passes. Life goes back to the way it was before, but the memory of the feeling remains. I see now that the way that one reads an experience like this is at the heart of a number of faith traditions.
In early Rabbinic Judaism there are two mystical practices of note. One is Ma’aseh Bereshit, the study of the works of creation. The other is Ma’aseh Merkavah, the study of the Chariot. Another way of describing these two ideas is that they comprise the esoteric study of creation and of the Creator. The secrets of creation are found in the reasons and details of the Creator's actions preceding creation. The secrets of the chariot are the details of the appearance (the nature of) the Creator. What we know of the chariot we know from the first chapter of the book of Ezekiel. There is a story in the talmudic tractate Hagigah that discusses the study of the Chariot:
“The Gemara returns to the topic of the Design of the Divine Chariot. The Sages taught: An incident occurred involving Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, who was riding on a donkey and was traveling along the way, and his student, Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh, was riding a donkey behind him.
Rabbi Elazar said to him: My teacher, teach me one chapter in the Design of the Divine Chariot. He said to him: Have I not taught you: And one may not expound the Design of the Divine Chariot to an individual, unless he is a Sage who understands on his own accord? Rabbi Elazar said to him: My teacher, allow me to say before you one thing that you taught me. In other words, he humbly requested to recite before him his own understanding of this issue. He said to him: Speak.
Immediately, Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai alighted from the donkey, and wrapped his head in his cloak in a manner of reverence, and sat on a stone under an olive tree. Rabbi Elazar said to him: My teacher, for what reason did you alight from the donkey? He said: Is it possible that while you are expounding the Design of the Divine Chariot, and the Divine Presence is with us, and the ministering angels are accompanying us, that I should ride on a donkey? Immediately, Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh began to discuss the Design of the Divine Chariot and expounded, and fire descended from heaven and encircled all the trees in the field, and all the trees began reciting song.
What song did they recite? “Praise the Lord from the earth, sea monsters and all depths…fruit trees and all cedars…praise the Lord” (Psalms 148:7–14). An angel responded from the fire, saying: This is the very Design of the Divine Chariot, just as you expounded. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai stood and kissed Rabbi Elazar ben Arakh on his head, and said: Blessed be God, Lord of Israel, who gave our father Abraham a son like you, who knows how to understand, investigate, and expound the Design of the Divine Chariot.”
I love this story. No doubt it informs my own interpretation of my experience, but it is quite different from my experience, and that difference reveals the difference between myself and rabbis Yohanan and Elazar ben Arakh. They are able to bring their visions of Ma’aseh Bereshit and Ma’aseh Merkavah into a kind of alignment that brings on a moment of revelation with all the bells and whistles. Their desire for that moment may come from their having had experiences like mine, experiences that they felt the need to seek after and repeat. Maybe I’m just not that deep.
But there is a key detail of the story that I am very attentive to: the trees around them burst out in song. Trees lack conscious selves and yet the suddenly speak out as if they had the power to apprehend and appreciate and thus the power to know and appreciate the wonders of creation. They express themselves through the recitation of the second half of Psalm 148, a Psalm that we recite in our morning prayers every day. It is a part of the prayer service that I enjoy as much as any, not least of which is because it mentions sea monsters.
הַ֥לְלוּ־יָ֨הּ ׀ הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת־יְ֭הֹוָה מִן־הַשָּׁמַ֑יִם הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בַּמְּרוֹמִֽים׃
Hallelujah.
Praise GOD from the heavens;
give praise on high.
הַֽלְל֥וּהוּ כׇל־מַלְאָכָ֑יו הַ֝לְל֗וּהוּ כׇּל־צְבָאָֽו׃
Give praise, all you angels,
give praise, all divine hosts.
הַֽ֭לְלוּהוּ שֶׁ֣מֶשׁ וְיָרֵ֑חַ הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ כׇּל־כּ֥וֹכְבֵי אֽוֹר׃
Give praise, sun and moon,
give praise, all bright stars.
הַֽ֭לְלוּהוּ שְׁמֵ֣י הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְ֝הַמַּ֗יִם אֲשֶׁ֤ר ׀ מֵעַ֬ל הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃
Give praise, highest heavens,
and you waters that are above the heavens.
יְֽ֭הַלְלוּ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם יְהֹוָ֑ה כִּ֤י ה֖וּא צִוָּ֣ה וְנִבְרָֽאוּ׃
Let them praise the name of GOD—
who commanded that they be created,
וַיַּעֲמִידֵ֣ם לָעַ֣ד לְעוֹלָ֑ם חׇק־נָ֝תַ֗ן וְלֹ֣א יַעֲבֽוֹר׃
and who made them endure forever,
establishing an order that shall never change.
הַֽלְל֣וּ אֶת־יְ֭הֹוָה מִן־הָאָ֑רֶץ תַּ֝נִּינִ֗ים וְכׇל־תְּהֹמֽוֹת׃
Praise GOD, O you who are on earth,
all sea monsters and ocean depths,
אֵ֣שׁ וּ֭בָרָד שֶׁ֣לֶג וְקִיט֑וֹר ר֥וּחַ סְ֝עָרָ֗ה עֹשָׂ֥ה דְבָרֽוֹ׃
fire and hail, snow and smoke,
storm wind that executes God’s command,
הֶהָרִ֥ים וְכׇל־גְּבָע֑וֹת עֵ֥ץ פְּ֝רִ֗י וְכׇל־אֲרָזִֽים׃
all mountains and hills,
all fruit trees and cedars,
הַחַיָּ֥ה וְכׇל־בְּהֵמָ֑ה רֶ֝֗מֶשׂ וְצִפּ֥וֹר כָּנָֽף׃
all wild and tamed animals,
creeping things and winged birds,
מַלְכֵי־אֶ֭רֶץ וְכׇל־לְאֻמִּ֑ים שָׂ֝רִ֗ים וְכׇל־שֹׁ֥פְטֵי אָֽרֶץ׃
all kings and peoples of the earth,
all princes of the earth and its judges,
בַּחוּרִ֥ים וְגַם־בְּתוּל֑וֹת זְ֝קֵנִ֗ים עִם־נְעָרִֽים:
youths and maidens alike,
old and young together
יְהַלְל֤וּ ׀ אֶת־שֵׁ֬ם יְהֹוָ֗ה כִּֽי־נִשְׂגָּ֣ב שְׁמ֣וֹ לְבַדּ֑וֹ ה֝וֹד֗וֹ עַל־אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃
Let them praise GOD’s name—
for sublime is this name alone—
of the One whose splendor covers heaven and earth.
וַיָּ֤רֶם קֶ֨רֶן ׀ לְעַמּ֡וֹ תְּהִלָּ֤ה לְֽכׇל־חֲסִידָ֗יו לִבְנֵ֣י יִ֭שְׂרָאֵל עַ֥ם קְרֹב֗וֹ הַֽלְלוּ־יָֽהּ׃
[God] has exalted the horn of this people
for the glory of all faithful ones,
Israel, the people brought close.
Hallelujah.
This piece of liturgy offers an appreciation of the Creator through an appreciation of Creation. In Jewish theology, the appreciation of the Creator is more important than the appreciation of Creation. But again, maybe I’m just not that deep. I am captivated by Creation even as I acknowledge the Creator behind the work. It is hard to turn away from the magnificence of our finite, flawed and often painful lives, all of us living beings and inanimate creation. Beneath the skin of our perceptions the whole universe is in motion, an infinite soup of atomic particles and sub-atomic particles forming and reforming, and yet we are able to see creation as only we can see it.
The danger of the study of Ma’aseh Bereshit and Ma’aseh Merkavah is that we can fall into the habit of contemplation and we can become overly attached to divine perfection. We can equate the magnificence of creation with perfection. It is true, we need to accept that we are incomplete and imperfect, but we don’t need to accept suffering, ours or other people’s or creatures’. We should love the beauty of Creation, but also be an active part of it. I’m not sure what the name of this mystery is, but it is our tradition. Standing on street corners downtown I feel that too.
